Bright Futures’ students make Christmas ornaments

Students participating in the City of Donaldsonville’s afterschool program have been working diligently the past few weeks creating Christmas ornaments with aluminum foil, popsicle sticks and construction paper.

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Bastrop Daily Enterprise - Bastrop, LA

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Posted Dec. 18, 2013 at 12:00 PM
Updated Dec 18, 2013 at 12:54 PM

Posted Dec. 18, 2013 at 12:00 PM
Updated Dec 18, 2013 at 12:54 PM

Students participating in the City of Donaldsonville’s afterschool program have been working diligently the past few weeks creating Christmas ornaments with aluminum foil, popsicle sticks and construction paper. Their teacher has taught them that art can be created from many different materials. The students created snowmen using tin foil and construction paper. They also created their own vision of what Christmas means to them through scenes in dioramas. Their art teacher Cetin Ates is an internationally showing sculptor, who graduated from Cukurova University, in Adana, Turkey focusing on metal sculpture. His work has been on display in Baton Rouge, California, Chicago, New Orleans and as far away as Istanbul, Turkey. Cetin loves the students and his passion is to help build their character and give them inspiration. As for his own inspiration, he says he is inspired from human lives, experiences, expectations, freedom. “Anybody can change their lives any time to reach new destinations for happiness.” According to long time Director, Donna Gaignard, the goal of the arts program is to provide opportunities for children to create collaborate and express themselves through exposure to and participation in the arts under the guidance of arts professionals. The art class is one of a variety of enrichment classes offered through the years. Other opportunities have included, character counts sewing, music, dance, voice, golf, drama, tennis, cooking keyboard, violin and guitar lessons. At a time when the community is acknowledging the need for more programs that help the school system provide opportunities for learning and building character within our students, the city’s program is a welcome and refreshing opportunity that is certainly giving it’s participants’ every opportunity to work towards a bright future.